The man who had his business Buy My Debt closed down by the Insolvency Service ‘in the public interest’ is back again with a new company

Phillip Allingan of the former firm Buy My Debt that was closed down ‘in the public interest’ in 2011 has set up a new business called Should I Liquidate?

A sales email seen by ICSM from the business asks: “Did you know it is possible to liquidate your Limited Company, get rid of all the debts the company has, and carry on in business through a new Limited Company with a fresh start and no debts?”

It then lists ‘negotiating payment plans with HMRC and other creditors’ plus raising finance and getting investment as options. This after listing CBILS and Bounce Back Loans as reasons why a business may be in trouble and implying that company directors could avoid having to repay debts by liquidating their business and starting up again under a new name.

At the time the Mail’s This Is Money reported in 2012: “The Government’s Insolvency Service went to the High Court last December to close down Allingan’s two debt advice firms – Buy My Debt and The Trusted Partnership. The firms promised to help individuals negotiate with creditors to cut their debts or to take over the liability for them entirely. Clients were charged £1 plus ten percent of their debt and a £250 fee in return for supposedly offloading what they owed. However, according to the Insolvency Service: ‘None of the debt sale agreements was approved by lenders, thus the client was left in a worse financial position, having paid fees but still having a contractual obligation to repay the full amount of the debt to the lender.’”

On the website Should I Liquidate it explains how the firm works: “Give us a call. Telephone discussion – free of charge, without obligation and with total confidentiality. I’ll explain what your options are and if you wanted us to get involved any further what we can do and what our fees will be. I’ll leave you to sleep on it and think about what you want to do. Remember we don’t recommend or advise. The decision has to be yours. If you never come back to us that’s it. It has cost you nothing. If you would like us to assist you in any way we can then we will and before we start you will know exactly what our fees are and what we can do for you.”

On his LinkedIn profile Phillip Allingan describes his role as the managing partner of Business Advice Services which was established in 2008 offering advice and mediation to businesses in debt.

ICSM - the UK’s leading credit intelligence membership group for businesses looking to avoid bad debts and late payers said there are three ways to liquidate a company. These are: Creditors Voluntary Liquidation or CVL, an Administrative Dissolution and a Compulsory Liquidation.

ICSM advises directors of struggling firms to seek professional advice from their accountants, an insolvency professional or legal firm before taking out further loans to stave off insolvency.

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For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk